Confidence In A Secure Classroom

Montessori school uses network video as the new Show-and-Tell

By John Bartolac

Oct 01, 2015

With a strong focus on maintaining parents’ assurance in the
educational environment’s safety and security, the Dancing
Moose Montessori School in West Valley City, Utah, has
installed an array of Axis high-resolution network cameras
in each of its classrooms to monitor activity and to protect
its students and staff. In addition, the school is able to watch their property during
the school day and afterhours with cameras deployed on the outside perimeter of
the building.

The robust camera system provides transparency as well as security. Classroom,
gym and playground cameras stream their video to two large-screen monitors in
the school that administrators can watch to keep an eye on students and teachers
without interfering with classroom and outdoor activities.

Specializing in early childhood development—18 months through second
grade—Dancing Moose follows the Montessori philosophy, which emphasizes independence,
freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological,
physical and social development.

“Our goal is to nurture our students’ critical thinking skills and help them develop
a high degree of self-confidence so that when they move on to higher education
they’ll be at the top of their class,” said Jennifer Duffield, executive director
of the Dancing Moose Montessori School.

A PROGRESSIVE SOLUTION FOR A PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL

Dancing Moose turned to Stone Security of Salt Lake City to design and install
the state-of-the-art, integrated monitoring and security system. In addition to a
mix of high-resolution Axis network cameras and a Milestone Xprotect Express
network VMS, the solution includes a 4U BCD-V2MT Tower Server powered by HP, Netgear 24-port POE switches and
a DMP intrusion system.

At the school’s original location
which was opened in 2007, Stone Security
installed AXIS 212 PTZ-V network
cameras inside each of the dozen classrooms
to give administrators visibility
into every corner of the room. When
Dancing Moose opened its second location
in 2014, each classroom in the
new building was equipped with either
a wide-angle, three-megapixel AXIS
M3006-V fixed dome network camera
or panoramic, five-megapixel AXIS
M3007-PV fixed dome network camera
to provide full visibility.

For external security, Stone Security
installed HDTV-quality 720p AXIS
P3364-VE fixed dome network cameras
around the outside of the building.
The cameras’ Lightfinder technology is
ideal for lowlight conditions, providing
full-color fidelity even during nighttime
surveillance. The exterior cameras are
set to record on motion afterhours.

“We recommended Axis network
cameras specifically because they are
easy to use, provide high resolution,
and offer a great deal of flexibility. You
can choose frame rates, resolution and
recording options on the fly,” said Andy
Schreyer of Stone Security.

“Since Milestone and Axis operate
on an open platform system we are able
to provide our client with the flexibility
to extend the system to future schools
and add new integrations over time,
thus creating equity in the system,”
Schreyer said. “Milestone keeps up as
Axis releases new cameras with updated
features. This eliminates the need for
wholesale system replacement because
the solution never becomes obsolete.”

PROVIDING A SAFE AND TRANSPARENT
LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Crossing the threshold from babyhood
to preschooler can be a stressful, sometimes
tearful time for students and their
parents. But Dancing Moose uses this
innovative system to also minimize
separation anxiety. After parents drop
off their youngsters they can stop in the
lobby to view one of the two 42-inch
monitors streaming video of what’s
happening in their child’s classroom.

This ability to unobtrusively observe
their child has become a huge selling
point for the school. “Parents love the
ability to drop off their children, who
may be crying and suffering from separation
anxiety, and check in after five
minutes to see that their child is now
happy and engaged in classroom activity,”
Duffield said. “It’s really powerful.”

Observing how a child learns and interacts with classmates and teachers not only provides
parents with peace of mind but allows administrators
to remotely evaluate teachers and provide them with
insights on individual students’ behavior.

“From a school director’s point of view it’s really
nice to pull up a classroom view and see how a teacher is
doing, see if her kids are having a hard time at naptime,
for example,” Duffield said. “If we see this cluster needs
some help we can just jump in and lend assistance.”

WATCHING THEIR CHILDREN THRIVE

With 240 students in the school, the lobby can become
a bit crowded at times as parents flock to the monitors.

“It’s a very popular area at drop off and pick up
times of day,” Duffield said. “Occasionally a parent
comes over on their lunch break. We even have a
group of moms who regularly come here half an hour
before dismissal just to watch their kids on camera.”

According to Duffield, watching circle time activity
is a big hit with parents because it lets them see how
their child is engaged with what the teacher is teaching.
It also helps the parents to see how their child
is interacting with classmates. Are they being social?
Are they being disruptive?

“Sometimes I have to hold the parent back from
going into the classroom and chastising their child for
misbehaving,” Duffield said. “I have to assure them
that the teachers have the situation in hand.”

The cameras also help provide an opportunity for
parents to discover why their child might be coming
home and announcing that they don’t like school.

“I’ve had parents watching the video and pointing
out that their son or daughter wasn’t engaging
in any activity,” Duffield said. “They suggest to me
that the teacher should be interacting with the child
to encourage them to choose something. Of course,
I expect the teacher will be doing that anyway. But,
it’s nice to have a parent point that out so that I can
remind a teacher not to overlook a quiet student who
may need a little more direction and encouragement.”

AS SIMPLE AS CLICK AND VIEW

A simple click of the mouse gives parents a live view
of their child’s classroom without the distraction that
their presence in the room would create. To ensure
that not just anyone can step up to the monitor and
take control, Stone Security set up a unique access
code for each parent, teacher and administrator authorized
to enter the system.

“The system is very straightforward, but also effective
and secure,” Duffield said. “Parents can walk up
to our monitoring stations with no experience in professional
video systems and the intuitive Milestone
software will provide them with easy and secure access
to live video of their child’s classroom. They can
even take control over the camera angles.”

Especially at the beginning of the school year when
separation anxiety tends to spike, parents flock to the
monitoring station to observe their children learning,
playing, eating and interacting with teachers and fellow
students.

“A teacher can tell a parent that their child was fine
within five minutes after they left, but when the parent
can actually see if for themselves, it gives them a great
deal of comfort,” Duffield said.

In addition to observing how well a child is adjusting
to the transition from home to school, parents
and school administrators are equally interested in
educators’ teaching methods. Are pupils actively participating
in lessons and activities? Are students playing
safely and eating well?

Continuing to prioritize keeping interruptions at
a minimum, Duffield said, “What’s great about the
Axis and Milestone technology is that they allow us
to observe our classroom

This article originally appeared in the October 2015 issue of Security Today.